Floor and Kitchen Renovation 2016: Getting Ready

  D calls me a stress junkie and he's probably right.  It wasn't enough for us to pack up our whole family and move halfway around the world right after bringing home a new baby.  No, we have to go back around the world to Thailand for a wedding not even a year later.  You think that's a lot?  We don't go half-measures in this family so we're also renovating our kitchen and all the tile floors at the same time.  Yup, we're nuts.
  Since we moved to this house in January, we've redone the backyard and done a few small projects in the house while we worked on the kitchen design.  In the current layout, which is standard for this model of home, there is almost no prep space and a lot of wasted (inaccessible) storage space.

High Five for Friday #35: In Pictures

  High Five, friend, we made it through another week!  Did this one feel particularly long to you?  Mine wasn't bad but every day seemed to last forever. Maybe it was D's long hours at work, maybe it was the extra things we did this week, or maybe I was looking for to D and I's big date tonight (yay!) that made it seem so long.  Whatever it was, it's finally Friday so let's celebrate with picture review of the week!

Earth's First Birthday!

  Happy Birthday Earth!  You've ridden our planet one whole time around the sun and gone from being a tiny little baby to a crawling, babbling, engaging, into-everything little person! 

My Favorite Post: Earth is Home

  Just in time for Earth's first birthday, I wanted to re-share his homecoming post.  While the Thoughts on Traveling with a Two Year Old post is still the most popular one here, and I've loved sharing our travels with you (in Thailand and Singapore/Malaysia), this one is my favorite.  I think it best captures all the anxiety and stress that can surround an adoption and the joy of homecoming.  It also shows how much love our island home expressed to our family on our special day.

----------------------------------------------From  October 2015 --------------------------------------------------

I spent the last three days just waiting for this day to come.  I kept thinking that Entry/Exit would find a problem with their paperwork or that Elizabeth would change her mind but in the end, nothing went wrong.  A friend came over to Ebeye with me and brought her 11-month-old daughter with her.  It was so wonderful to have L along for support and baby M broke up the huge amounts of awkwardness and tension at the house.  When it was time to go, Elizabeth changed Earth's diaper and clothes, wrapped him up, and placed him in my arms.  I told her we'd be back to visit on Monday and said, one last time, "Emon?" (okay?).  She said, "Emon, sister" and we said good bye.

We stopped at Sister Schaffer's apartment on the way back to the ferry.  She's been a wonderful mentor to me and I knew she would want to see Earth